1. Field
The present disclosure relates to manufacturing and, more particularly, to performing an automated validation of a condition of assembly for a structure.
2. Background
Assembling a structure that is comprised of hundreds of thousands of parts may be a complex process that involves multiple stages of assembly. Accordingly, validating a condition of assembly over the course of these stages of assembly helps ensure quality control. A “condition of assembly” for a structure may be, for example, the degree to which a current build of the structure matches or conforms to a design specification for that structure. As one example, the assembly of an aircraft structure, such as a fuselage, may be a complex multi-stage process. Validating the condition of assembly of the fuselage, for example, after a particular stage of assembly may include determining whether the current build of the fuselage is within selected tolerances.
Currently, validating the condition of assembly of a complex structure, such as a fuselage, is typically performed manually. For example, a human operator may manually inspect a fuselage and compare the build of the fuselage to hundreds of printed engineering drawings of the fuselage, a computer aided design (CAD) model of the fuselage, or both. In some cases, this type of validation may require the operator to have special training and experience to maneuver through the drawings or model of the fuselage. Further, this type of evaluation may be more time-consuming and more prone to error than desired. Therefore, it would be desirable to have improved methods and systems for validating the condition of assembly for structures.